World TB Day: 13,000 undetected patients in Sri Lanka

COLOMBO (News 1st): World Tuberculosis Day, designed to create public awareness about the devastating health, social and economic consequences of TB, and to step up efforts to eliminate the global TB epidemic is observed on 24th March every year. This year's World Health Organisation's (WHO) theme for World TB Day 2021, "The Clock is Ticking" conveys the sense that the world is running out of time to act on the commitments to end TB made by global leaders. According to Sri Lankan health authorities, around 8000 to 9000 cases of Tuberculosis are reported in the country annually. Around 600 lives are lost to the disease every year, Dr. Hemantha Herath, the Director of the National Tuberculosis Control Programme (NTP) told News 1st on Wednesday (Mar. 24). The World Health Organisation estimates that there are more than 13,000 undetected TB patients in Sri Lanka. Dr. Hemantha Herath pointed out that the presence of such unidentified tuberculosis patients at a time when there is a cure for the disease is a serious health concern.